AUSTIN, Texas -- Charlie Strong should be feeling the pressure.After two consecutive losing seasons, there are daily questions whether he can not only win at Texas, but win enough to keep his job. He enters the season with an 11-14 record at Texas and a roster of talented, unproven players facing a Sunday night season-opener against No. 10 Notre Dame.Behind it all is the issue of race: Strong is the first black head football coach at Texas and one of just a handful across the nation. To be the first at Texas, which is still grappling with a segregationist legacy, is something Strong addressed the day he was hired in 2014 with a nod to those who never got a chance.Strong said its his role as a pioneer among black coaches that props him up, not wears him down. It comforts him.He will win, Strong said, because he simply cant fail.It drives me every day, Strong said. It doesnt make it harder. So many people are counting on you. You cant let them down ... Thats why I have to be successful.That Texas hired Strong from Louisville in the first place was significant. The school resisted integration in the 1950s and 1960s and had college footballs last all-white national championship team in 1969. Race issues still reverberate on campus, although 52 years after the Civil Rights Act administrators are now fighting legal battles to expand opportunities for minorities and scrub the campus of remnants aligning it with the old South in the Civil War.Earlier this year, Texas won a significant legal victory for affirmative action in higher education when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the schools consideration of race in some student admissions. And the school recently removed a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis from its prominent perch on campus.Texas sociology professor Ben Carrington, whose work has focused on race and sports, praised former Texas athletic director Steve Patterson for hiring Strong barely two months into his tenure. Patterson was forced out in 2015 after alienating large numbers of fans, boosters and school administrators. Patterson also hired basketball coach Shaka Smart, the first black coach to lead that program as well.(Patterson) pushed back against the old-guard network, Carrington said. He deserves credit for that.Carrington, who sits on the schools athletics advisory council, has closely watched how Texas received Strong and says the coach has a groundswell of appreciation and good will toward him right now.But another losing season would likely leave Texas little choice but to make a change, Carrington said. It gets trickier for Strong and Texas if he wins, but doesnt win enough.This year is different. If Charlie Strong does not have a winning season, I dont see how he stays on, Carrington said. If they have a winning season, which they should do, how much is enough?If Strong has a winning season and still gets fired three years into a five-year contract, the element of race will jump front and center, Carrington said.The research shows that (black) coaches have longer to wait and less time to prove themselves, Carrington said. That becomes a judgment call ... and the cause will get loud.No one wants to pin down what would be enough for Strong. Last season, Texas beat Oklahoma and Baylor but still finished 5-7 with blowout losses of 38-3 to Notre Dame, 50-7 to TCU and 24-0 to lowly Iowa State.The program is still rebuilding. Strong is still unsettled when it comes to quarterback, he has a new offensive coordinator and his best talent remains young, sprinkled among freshmen and sophomores. That leaves Strong little margin for errors like missed extra points, dropped punts and other missteps that turned winnable games into heartbreaking losses the last two seasons.Texas hasnt had three consecutive losing seasons since the late 1930s.We know how critical this year is. If I start thinking negative, it will wear me down. I cant let that happen, Strong said.So he leans back on his strength: the idea that he cannot fail. Strong often tells the story of an elderly black woman who approached him at gas station and asked if he was the Texas coach. She grew up in segregated Austin and told him she was praying for him to succeed at Texas.Strong smiles at the story.I said, `As many prayers have been sent up for me, Im going to be able to walk to the pearly gates of heaven. She said, `Yes, you will, baby, Strong said. You see? They want success. When I have success, they are going to feel a part of it. Nike Air Max Tn Schweiz . 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LYON, France -- Dont let Cristiano Ronaldos devilish grin and chiseled torso fool you. Portugal is the undisputed ugly duckling of the four teams left standing at the European Championship.While semifinal rival Wales, along with Germany and France, have all impressed with big wins to deservedly reach this stage, Portugal has only joined them after barely squeaking through each round.And unless Ronaldo can rediscover his scoring touch, Portugal will struggle to find a way past an attack fueled by Gareth Bale when it plays Wales at the Stade de Lyon on Wednesday.Portugal coach Fernando Santos, however, doesnt care about style or statistics.I would be bothered if I was at home and they were saying Portugal had played well but was no longer at the Euro, Santos said. We have a goal and we are doing all we can to achieve it. We are not here to play pretty or ugly.We are going to take on an excellent opponent, which has more victories and scored more goals than we have, but we believe we are going to win.How Santos side has managed to reach its fourth semifinal appearance in the last five continental competitions is something of a mystery.Portugal has yet to beat an opponent in 90 minutes of regulation play after five matches at Euro 2016.Portugal limped into the round-of-16 after three draws, finishing third in Group F behind Hungary and Iceland. It then needed an extra-time goal from Ricardo Quaresma to see off Croatia 1-0 in one of the poorest matches of the tournament. Next came a quarterfinal against Poland that Portugal claimed in a penalty shootout following its finish at 1-1 after 120 minutes.All told, Portugal has been in the lead for a total of 22 minutes over the course of more than eight hours of football in Frrance.ddddddddddddYet, here they are, one win away from the final in Paris on July 10.Understandably enough, Portugals players are focusing on the product, not the process.Criticism gives us more motivation, said midfielder Danilo, who is likely to start against Wales for the suspended Williams Carvalho. Its not easy, we see it in the news but it motivates us. It makes us determined to prove them wrong.To assume that credit goes to Ronaldo for Portugal staying in contention is incorrect.Other than one performance that did meet the incredibly high standards the three-time world player of the year has set for himself, Ronaldo has counted more glaring misses than goals.Yes, the two goals he scored in Portugals group match in Lyon were critical to salvaging a 3-3 draw with Hungary and advancing to the knockout rounds. But he has gone goal-less in the other four games, including a missed penalty.Yet despite all its warts, if Portugal has gotten this far it is because Santos players have become experts in the art of survival.The greatest value they have shown throughout the tournament is the mental poise needed to perform error-free as the clock ticks down and the pressure mounts.On no less than four occasions has Portugal stared at a deficit that spelled elimination; and not once did it flinch as it overcame three one-goal deficits against Hungary and an early goal from Poland.Nor has it been all gloom on the pitch. Nani and Quaresma have picked up some of the scoring slack for Ronaldo, 18-year-old Renato Sanches is one of the tournaments sensations, and Pepe has played masterfully in defense. ' ' '